Roaring in pain, the surrounded slug-thing lashes back at Cordelia. Its first swipe gets through her guard to take out a lot of flesh, but its next two swipes go wide.
for
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Initiative
Inspire Courage up
Vikka 15/15 HP, sickened 1
Vikka boosts her ally while she (unsuccessfully) attempts to drown out the sickening moan.
Being pelted with debris and magic, the 'red' beast spits more acid at its ranged attackers. It only splashes on Jortix, but solidly hits Rinshu and also hits Rain.
for plus
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for plus
The whole room - both sides - are looking pretty hurt but all are still standing. An injured Rain in Cloudy Day yells come on! we're so close! and fires two seedpods at the 'red' target.
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Both connect and the slug-thing shivers. Then explodes in a shower of viscera! As liquid from its organs spray out onto Rain, Jerikyo, Maurice and Dart, and Cordelia they seem to sizzling sickeningly as they hit your skin.
ah! i didn't know they exploded when they died!
Initiative
Inspire Courage up
Jortix 13/15 HP, sickened 1
Rinshu 4/22 HP
Cordelia 8/18 HP, shield broken, need Fort save
Maurice, in stance, need Fort save
Jerikyo 3/15 HP, need Fort save
Rinshu tactially retreats away from the remaining foe as he heals most of his injuries.
Jortix raises her own shiled before firing off one more piece of rubble. Heroically drawing on her last reserves her aim is true! The remaining slug thing *urk*s and falls!
...And as it falls its skin too ruptures in a broad spray of acidic viscera.
Cordelia drops under the acidic assault, though luckily Jerkiyo's burst of vitality gets her back up and conscious.
As you gather yourselves, Rain in Cloudy Day - a bit hurt but not deterred - advances towards the central pillar.
huh, so the boulders seemed to be coming from that glyph. which now that you disabled it, should mean the iruxi village should be safe now! but wait, there's writing here...
The leshy examines a series of carvings etched into the pillar's stone.
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Cordelia groans and drags herself out of the puddle of acidic ichor, doing her best to wipe herself off before too much further damage is done, "Disgusting creatures..." She complains, slumping up against the wall.
"I can only hope the worst is over after that, though once we're done looking over the pillar I think there's still a little left to cover of this place. That one caved in tunnel seems to connect to where we started, if I'm following the layout of this place correctly." She points off towards the south.
Cordelia rests for a few minutes as Rinshu treats the worst of her injuries, and gets her feeling a bit less wounded.
Rain in Cloudy Day continues to peer closely at the script on the pillar and walls
hmm, my azlanti is a bit rusty, but these look like pleas to the gods. their gods: i see prayers to lissala, acavna, and even zura. i'm not exactly sure what the full ask is for… The leshy frowns for just an instant before stepping back and turning around to look at you all again. His expression is BEAMING.
but other scholars can decipher that later. what matters is this is proof! undeniable proof that an azlanti settlement like this survived the fall of old azlant and was made all the way out here in taldor! this is a tremendous discovery! we should go back and let thakik know the village is safe, and then return to the grand lodge to report what we found!
One of you can - while this is happening and Cordelia's being treated - approach the collapsed wall and poke your head in. Caves stretch out beyond. The cavern is mostly damp but patches of permafrost show up regularly within the dug dirt walls; in several places moisture seems to have seeped through the dirt only to be frozen in place. On the far side several smaller tunnels connect to presumed passages leading even further beyond, though these tunnels are too small for even a child.
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Cordelia takes another moment to finish catching her breath before pushing herself to her feet, looking over her sodden state with a frown, "Definitely going to need several baths when I get back." She muses.
"A plea to the gods huh... Given the end results that's a little ominous." She hums as she listens to Rain's explanation, before giving a nod, "But yes, if there's nothing left for us to clear out here we should head back, congratulations on your successful mission Rain, and glad to see you... Well really all of us after that last battle... Made it through in - mostly - one piece!" She declares before moving to depart back down the hallway they entered from, making note to mark the last of the pressure plates on the group's way out.
old men and women and young men and women and old neither and young neither and others and both and me! Rain excitedly agrees with Vikka. i hope they let me come back and be a part of the bigger dig!
You are able to make your way easily back through the complex's halls, up the stairs, and back to the iruxi enclave . When you return Chief Thakik is pleased to see you back alive. And then even more pleased as you report you're disabling of the summoning runes. "That is excellent news Pathfinders. The Tskikha Enclave is in your debt. Should you return here, we would treat with you as allies."
The iruxi put you up for the night so that you can rest, and then its back through the swamps - heading south this time back to Cassomir. With Kazuuk volunteering to guide you the whole way the trip takes much less time than it did a few days ago. Arriving back in the city and checking in at the Three-Legged Frog you find a halfling Pathfinder waiting there, who face breaks out into an expression of pure relief as she sees you.
Oh, thank goodness you're all right! she says. I just got back to Absalom a week ago when I heard Rain in Cloudy Day was missing. I knew the Masters had sent a group to look for him, but as Head Initate I felt it was my responsibility too so I came out to see if I could help too. But you had already left by the time I arrived. Janira Gavrix, she extends a hand of introduction .
Clearly seeing Rain is all right and none of the rest of you appear to be missing, she explains: I have a boat docked and staying here to take all of us back to the Grand Lodge as soon as you're all ready. So, what did you find out there? Were there any troubles?
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"Seems we got back just in time then." Cordelia nods, shaking the halfling's hand, "Mr. Cloudy Day had indeed uncovered an Azlanti ruin, though I'll leave the details of that leg of their journey to them." She nods to the leshy, "Otherwise, we cleared it out, for the most part - save for one room that was sealed off and inaccessible without destructive measures... The place seemed to house some manner of summoning device that was generating creatures of living stone. We unfortunately had to forcibly disable it, however, as we were under pressure from some rather nasty aberrations."
"Otherwise it's clear for the Archive to send some people in to investigate. The traps in the area we explored should be disabled but I marked the triggers just in case." She shifts a bit, stepping back to let the others have their input as she finishes.
That's remarkable! Janira says after you explain your adventures. And yes, I'm sure the Venture Captains would be happy to have you help out on any follow-up expeditions. she adds to Vikka. And especially you Rain in Cloudy Day. Finding a discovery of tis scope on your Confirmation: wel that's quite the feat!
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When you finally return back to Absalom the three Masters are eager to meet with all seven of you once more, in the same meeting room as before. All three look extremely pleased to see you, and you notice advance reports of your mission (sent by Janira) spread out on the table.
“Well done!” exclaims Kreighton Shaine as he finishes reviewing the various chronicles assembled about the recent adventure in Taldor. “This is truly a marvelous find, and one that could well shape the lives of many Pathfinders in the future. Well done indeed!”
Sorrina Westyr gives a brief nod of her head, her circlet of floating aeon stones dipping in unison. Though there were some stumbles early on, it appears that everything has worked out in the end. Not only did Rain complete his Confirmation, but each of you also assisted in ensuring his safety and completing the mission. One of the Society’s three main tenets is to cooperate, and I can think of no better example than the results of this mission.
Marcos Farabellus slaps a meaty arm onto Rain in Cloudy Day’s cap, producing a distinct squelching sound from the leshy’s head. Absolutely! Now, we just need to keep this little fungal boy from getting too excited now that he’s a Pathfinder!
Both Kreighton and Sorrina immediately turn to their peer with stern expressions. Marcos chuckles and hunches slightly before continuing sheepishly, Oh, yeah. I guess I kind of blurted it out... but congratulations, you’re all now recognized as Pathfinder field agents. Congratulations!
Rain beams with happiness
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Cordelia stands at attention as the deans give their debrief - though she does give a slight chuckle at Marcos' outburst.
Once the congratulations were finished she gave a nod to the group and a friendly smile, "Was a pleasure working with all of you, and hopefully our paths will cross again sometime... Though hopefully the next mission will be a bit less messy than this one." She gives a wry smile, downplaying her own near-death experience.